A Sprint spokesman declined to comment on news reports that Sprint was considering a bid for MetroPCS.

Sprint's board seems unwilling to enter into mergers, said Jeff Kagan, a telecom analyst. The board has rejected past overtures by T-Mobile, he said.

"Where is the loose screw at Sprint Nextel anyway?" he said in an email. "CEO Dan Hesse seems to want to do deals. However, the Sprint board of directors doesn't. This behavior is not helping Sprint."

Sprint has posted net losses in 19 straight financial quarters. The third largest mobile carrier in the U.S. is in the middle of an effort to save money by consolidating multiple network technologies into one network and to roll out LTE service.

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